Sold For $7,668
*Includes Buyers Premium
ALS, one page both sides, 6 x 9.5, March 24, 1927. Handwritten letter from Bartolomeo Vanzetti while imprisoned in Dedham Jail, sent to supporter Jessica L. Henderson of Wayland, Massachusetts, in full (grammar and spelling retained): “This morning I was called by the Deputy Warden who let me read your letter to my sister. I said that I would have like to translate it in Italian. He gave me permission. I translated it on to-day noon hour and at one o’clock I send both your own letter and my translation of it to his office. Now they are travelling, Via Franch, toward my family; and they will surely be pleased and incouraged by your letter. I thank you also for them.
And I must also thank you for your good letter to me. I am glad you like the pen-holder and appreciate it so much – but O! If for such trifle you speack like that, how could I say for the unpayable good that you have done and are doing to us. I wish your subjourn in Florida to be happy and a good return, in good health, home. I shall be glad to see you again.
You are really optimistic on the outcome of the case but I wonder if it is not more due to your goodness rather than to reasons for expectation. I deemed well to add some warning to your heartful and optimistic letter to my sister, for, my folks too cannot help but to be optimistic and add enphasy to words of incouragement. But I still expect a refusal, so I warn them from over-hopping – in order that, if adversity come, it would find them more predisposed to it, and its strike less cruel. Presently, I cannot think of any extra things and helps for which to ask you – exept a word now and awhile. With good wishes and hearty regards, I am your grateful friend.” The adjacent integral page appears to contain handwritten pencil notations by a graphologist. In fine condition, with an inconsequential short edge tear.
In the famed Sacco and Vanzetti case, the anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted of killing a guard and paymaster during the 1920 armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Vehemently proclaiming their innocence, the pair soon became the center of a worldwide cause celebre in which many prominent writers, artists, and academics pleaded for their pardon or a new trial. Some two weeks after this letter, the two had exhausted their appeals and were sentenced to death on April 9, 1927. Their fate fell into the hands of Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller, who faced last-minute petitions to grant clemency to the convicted anarchists. He assembled a panel that determined Sacco and Vanzetti had received a fair trial, and despite ongoing large public protests, they were executed by electric chair on August 23, 1927.
The recipient, Jessica Cox Henderson (1867-1952), was a suffragist from Massachusetts who was active in the women’s movement as early as 1899. In addition to her work on suffrage and on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment, Henderson also worked as a public advocate for Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, serving as Secretary for the Citizens’ National Sacco and Vanzetti Committee, where she advocated for their rights and drove Sacco’s sister to visit him in prison.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
(inquire for price)
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
